All roads lead to …

Your pocket.  And your rights, or lack thereof.

Several interesting articles in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram as of late.  Seems like they are finally starting to pay attention to what is going on with our roads.

First was the NTTA article by the FW Watchdog.

The NTTA is circulating a draft of its proposed bill for the 2013 Legislature. The Watchdog asked NTTA for a copy, but the authority declined. Instead, The Watchdog obtained a draft from another source.

I can exclusively report details of what may be seen by some as NTTA's leap above and beyond basic constitutional rights. Others, wanting violators to pay up, will see the proposed system as a way to offer violators a chance to tell their side of the story.

When I think of an NTTA-operated court, legendary Judge Roy Bean's courtroom in Langtry comes to mind: "Do you have anything to say before we find you guilty?"

The bill gives NTTA even more power than it already has. For instance, a guilty toll debtor must either pay the debt, fines and penalties or else satisfy "the authority in its sole discretion." That's pretty open-ended.

The Watchdog asks: Is the NTTA competent enough to create its own judiciary?

We all know the answer to that but Lieber gives you three examples.  Read them all, cause YOU could be next.